We cannot stress enough why it is important that if you get into a private hire vehicle it needs to have a door sticker identifying who the company is collecting the customer.

Read the full article here:

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/woman-sexually-assaulted-after-getting-into-car-thinking-it-was-a-minicab-she-booked-in-london

Additional articles from this month's PHTM magazine:

On the 20th August 2020 at a trade licensing council meeting, the subject of Southampton private hire drivers being allowed to work for two or more operators was brought to the consultation table. 

As chairman of the Southampton Hackney and Private Hire Association (SHPHA) www.southamptontaxis.org our hackney carriage members were concerned with the proposal of names being removed from private hire vehicles on the grounds of public safety.

It would appear that some UK authorities have relaxed the ruling of private hire door stickers displaying the name of the operators or a company, to allow private hire drivers to work for predominantly app based companies, the door sign would have no name at all apart from the identification plate number at the rear of the vehicle and the area it is licensed from.

Myself and fellow colleagues some time ago campaigned with Southampton licensing councillors and licensing officers with advice from the police to have door signs with appropriate company names which eventually became part of our licensing conditions.  Unscrupulous drivers in the past, had used magnetic door signs, removing them when doing different jobs which resulted in incidents occurring with female customers.

Under the heading, Identification, the Southampton City Council (SCC) Private Hire Vehicle Licence Policy and Conditions 2021, clearly state paragraph 8.6, magnetic signs will not be permitted and paragraph 8.7 state, the name of the operator and their telephone number or domain name shall appear in bold clearly legible lettering.

We can all agree passengers safety is of paramount importance, with private hire drivers working from multiple apps, can proper records be kept?  How does a licensing authority know which driver and vehicle are working for whom?  Whose operators' licence are they working under, if they do not have their own and could this have an effect on vehicle insurance?

In 2019 at the Private Hire and Taxi Exhibition in Milton Keynes, I was introduced to Desmond Broster,  Desmond is the National Director for Safeguarding and Licensing with the VEEZU group, the UK's leading multi-region taxi and private hire company.  Desmond is also the National Safeguarding & Policy Officer for the National Association of Licensing and Enforcement Officers (NALEO) and previously Head of Taxi & Private Hire Licensing with Leeds City Council for 15 years.

Des has been a strong campaigner for all issues around public safety and door signage for  private hire door vehicles was a key issue for him and he felt it essential that existing conditions remain in place and for the required names of companies/operators to be clearly visible to customers and the general public.  He contacted me some weeks ago and after meeting him, he highlighted his concerns and arranged to visit Southampton to meet with SCC licensing manager Mr Phil Bates.

Des also discussed the door sign subject at a meeting with Joseph Jones director of Door2Door cars and Simon May CEO of Radio Taxis.  Both gentlemen on behalf of their companies want company names to remain on the two front doors.

On the 3rd November 2021, the trade council meeting took place resulting in councillors voting for door signs to remain.  We all took part in presenting our deliberations to the councillors present.  The excellent submission from Des and his colleague Kirsty Oram, was enthralling to listen to, but extremely alarming.

Let us make sure that whilst we rebuild our economy, private hire door signs clearly displaying operator and company names remain where they should be on the doors of a licensed vehicle, otherwise you will have unidentified private hire vehicles working for many different app based companies which will result in the more profitable job accepted ahead of the one the driver had already committed to. The consequence of that is that some vulnerable person is left without transport time and again – people miss hospital appointments – the pressure from the big foreign App companies to remove door signage is all about their profit margins and price surging and nothing at all to do with the principles of the legislation – Public Safety.   There will be serious incidents occurring with these unidentifiable vehicles and Operators and only then will some licensing authorities start to rush to do the right thing – just as they did with Rotherham – and exactly why Leeds City Council introduced permanent stickers 20 years ago.

Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) has launched a Green Taxi ‘Try before you buy’ pilot in partnership with Welsh Government.

The scheme was launched by Cllr Huw David at the South East Wales Clean Transport event scheduled as part of the Cop Cymru programme running in parallel with COP26 in a series of roadshows across Wales with the CCR concentrating on the theme of clean transport. Bookings commence on the 10th of November 2021 with cars being released from 1st December. Cardiff Capital Region will be one of the first UK city regions to take part in a trial of this kind.

Read the full article here

Individuals, partnerships (including limited liability partnerships (LLPs)) and companies applying for licences in England and Wales to either drive taxis or private hire vehicles (PHVs), or both, operate a PHV business or deal in scrap metal are likely to be affected.

Read the full Policy Paper here

Local authorities seem to be unaware, perhaps because it suits them to ignore the Regulator's Code which is actually a Government Act.

The regulator is the council, and here are a couple of quotes -

'Regulators should carry out their activities in a way that supports those they regulate to comply and grow.' 

'Regulators should provide simple and straightforward ways to engage with those they regulate and hear their views.'

Click on the link below to view the entire Regulator's Code:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913510/14-705-regulators-code.pdf

The Government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response - Autumn and Winter Plan 2021’ which sets out the recommendations that everybody should take to protect themselves and others, as we transition towards learning to live with COVID-19. Find out what you can and cannot do here. Please check with individual venues and event organisers for updated information.

Read More

Southampton festival set to “Re:Claim” the city. Read the full article here:

https://www.gosouthampton.co.uk/2021/09/01/southampton-festival-set-to-reclaim-the-city/

It came to our attention that we have no policy on dealing with a hackney carriage licence should either one of the 283 become available or the cap increased. Therefore a policy has been drafted and is attached to this email.

Today marks the start of a 28 day consultation on this policy and the change of conditions to hackney carriage licences to enable it. All hackney proprietors have been written to notify them of this, however the consultation is a public one and anyone can make a representation. With this in mind I attach a copy of the letter and draft conditions so you can distribute as you wish.

You should note the following:

• There are currently no hackney carriage licences available. All 283 licences are currently granted.
• There are no plans currently to increase the number of hackney licences. (Though we are overdue for an unmet demand survey because of COVID).
• If a licence becomes available, any new licence issued will only be issued to a wheelchair accessible vehicle, regardless of plate number.
• Proprietors should be reminded that there is no “grace” period if their hackney carriage licence expires. Should this happen then they run the serious risk of losing that licence.

Any representations on this policy should be sent to: licensing.consultations@southampton.gov.uk

Views Around the City of Southampton, Hampshire, England. Click the image below to view the video.

Video copyright of Moss Travel